Ahri Lore Rewrite
by decoy134
Summary: To Ahri, being human means everything. This is Ahri's lore, expanded, and without the now nonexistent Institute of War.


**I wrote this while listening to the following songs: **

**Sakura Nagashi, by Utada Hikaru, from "Evangelion 3.0 You Can (not) Redo".**

**Young and Beautiful, by Lana Del Ray, from "The Great Gatsby**_**" (2013 film).**_

**Enjoy.**

A stranger awoke, lost, ensnared within a field of white fur. The smooth, slender hands of a woman slid against his chest. He tries to speak-

"Shhh…" She breathes. "Don't worry about a thing. Just leave everything to Ahri…"

He leans back in a daze. Where was he? How did he get here? And who was this beautiful woman? And suddenly, as he struggles for answers, he feels drawn to the woman's gaze. A sense of calm and mystique washes over him. His body grows limp in Ahri's arms, his mind blurs to the sweet fragrance enveloping him. She moves in, her lips drawing closer to his, trailed by the shadow of death...

Breathe in, breathe out. Her lips tremble, her fingers flinch.

He fades away, into unconsciousness.

But not death.

He is alive.

Again.

She couldn't do it again.

* * *

><p>It was getting so hard. So hard to finish the job. Her motivation was shot- was it even in her to tempt another?<p>

It wasn't always like this. At first, it was easy. Charm them, lure them away, and then devour their essence with naught a second thought. Her fur receded, eyes narrowed, skin whitened, and face rounded. Even now, she was an inch away from a pair of authentic human ears.

But nothing could even thin the nine, bushy tails behind her. Her tails were as tall and wide and covered with snow white fur as they were the day she obtained human form. Once, they were her pride, but now, they are just remnants of an existence she had long forsaken.

Ahri curls up her tails into one fluffy mass and sprawls it on the grass; a seat cushion to keep her dress clean. Across from town, where the lights and people danced, Ahri watches from far away, hidden behind the brush.

She had a lithe, female human's form; a beautiful, red dress; a pretty face and skin as smooth as silk. And yet, as close as she was to humanity, Ahri knew…

Nothing has changed…

Despite everything, Ahri still wandered the woods just on the outskirts of town. Such a trivial distance between them, and yet, she found them worlds apart, a nigh impossible chasm to cross.

Is this hell where she belonged?

No, that's just too cruel!

For her to have come so far, to have lied and stolen so many times, only to meet her end in the same place she started.

What was it all for?

Why was being human so wrong!?

But maybe… just maybe, this was her punishment for doing things half-heartedly. For not having the resolve to see her dream through to the end. She lacked conviction.

She starts walking back to town. The man should still be sleeping. There is still time…

This scent.

The scent of blood. Not animal blood, but human blood- dilute, but fresh. Ahri hesitates, then changes direction, following the scent.

Surely this was easier prey.

The sound of rushing water- the river is nearby.

Through the dark leaves and shrubs was a body lying face down against the gravel. Ahri scans carefully, but can detect nothing else. Could the river have carried it down? She slowly approaches, without a sound. It was a man, his clothes soaked and stained black with blood. He wheezed painfully, a lost soul waiting to be reaped by death.

Ahri pauses, then flips him over. She looks him in the eye, intent on taking whatever he had left before he passed. She leans in; just a bit closer, and she will mete him mercy.

Something wet touches her wrist. His cold hand, freezing cold, clings tightly to hers, clings to life. He meets her gaze halfway, then finds the strength to smile.

_Thank you._

The light in his eyes dim, his grip turns limp, almost gone.

…

_Cough, cough!_

Gasping, from the man, alive and kicking, still wounded, but not critical.

His consciousness, faint, ensnared in a field of white. Incomprehensible, he understood nothing- nothing, except the mercy he had been meted.

But nearby, curled up on the dirt, Ahri wallows in despair. She said she would take his essence. That she would no longer hesitate.

And now, look at her.

She gave up part of her own to save… some stranger who washed up on the side of the river. She sniffs, then starts to leave.

She looks over to the man, who laid silently, his back turned towards her. She crawls over to him, now unconscious. What did he say to her? Some sort of spell to compel her to do his bidding? Something that could sway anyone over to their side? Was it magic? The same type of spell she used to seduce others?

Was there something different about him?

Is he special?

No matter how hard she looked, there was little to speak of.

He was but a man.

She lied down next to him and put her head close to his chest.

A strong, steady heartbeat, beating rhythmically- the same that beat within her, since she was a small kit, indistinct from others.

What did he say to her, what did he say?

_Thank you_, with a meek gratitude painted over his face.

She slid closer, put her arms to his back. Even past the blood and water, his back felt warm, rising and falling with each breath.

He is alive.

She clutched him tightly, as tightly as he had clung to her, and thought of the rest she left cold, and sobbed.


End file.
